CORONA: Evolution of Rotary continues with first female president

When I attended my first Corona Rotary Club meeting in 1980, the only women in the room were the servers. I didn’t think much of it, having attended an all-boys high school and college and then serving two years in the Army.

Coincidentally, until 1980, women weren’t allowed to join the Corona club – or any Rotary Club. That year, Rotary International opened the door for female members.

In Corona, women didn’t rush through that door. It wasn’t until the 1994-95 presidential term of Dick Haley that the first women – two of them – were inducted at the same meeting. They were Cheryl Smith, manager of Communicom, the local cable TV service, and Marlene Woodworth, CEO of Circle City Hospital.

Why two? As Haley recalled, “It gave each someone to be with.” I was a member by then, and there certainly were some unhappy to see the change.

Join Soroptimist if you want to be in a club, some said. And a few members left the club.

Those opposed to women in the club had bought some time in 1988 when the club decided to sponsor a second club that would meet for breakfast and encourage women members.

The Circle City Rotary Club was chartered the next year with 29 members, about half of them women.

I share this history with you as an introduction to Pam Walker, who on July 11 pounded the gavel at TAPS Fish House & Brewery, running the meeting as the first female president of the Corona Rotary Club.

Back in 1971, Walker couldn’t get a job in fast food after graduating from high school in San Bernardino. So her father suggested she work in the back room of his escrow office.

Two years ago, she purchased Town & Country Escrow in Corona after working there since 1979. She’s made her mark in business as well as community service.

Walker joined Rotary in 2007, attracted by its commitment to the local community.

“I wanted to give back to the community that has supported me, but I wanted to know where my dollars were going,” she said. “I wanted to help people in my community.”

Initially she kept a low profile, busy managing a business hit hard by the recession. It took a couple of years to get involved, she said. And she noted it was challenging to make connections as the club was changing.

“But some of older members have been the most supportive,” she added. “Jim Pauly recommended me for the board in 2010, and I was first approached for the presidency in 2011 by Chuck Baker.”

She turned it down then. “I didn’t have enough understanding of what Rotary was. That year I went to district and leadership conferences, and the next year I asked to be president-elect. I didn’t want to be chosen as the token girl.”

Join the conversation

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to allow Freedom Communications, Inc. the right to republish your name and comment in additional Freedom publications without any notification or payment.